Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya?

http://www.clapsandboos.com/reviews/whiff-of-fresh-air

Recently, Tamizh Cinema has been engulfed in a wave of nauseating, stale air of egotistical heroes and creators who have hyped up efforts or have ended up giving movies so bad that at the end of the movie, you saw a wave of people trying to scramble to the exits to go home and douse their burning stomach for shelling out money to another mass masala movie.

Amidst this, விண்ணைத்தாண்டி வருவாயா? (Vinnaiththaandi Varuvaaya)comes as a whiff of odor neutralizer. This movie might not impress folks as one of the classics, but, surely at this point of time when the people who go out to see Tamizh movies are forcefully made to take dip in the 'masala' sauce, Gautam Menon tries to respect the intelligence and the sensibilities of today's audience. He has presented a simple tale - with a good screenplay and of course aided by some very mature, understated performances from his lead pair. And of course, he has also made a masterstroke with some of his casting choices - the best being Ganesh as the Kaakha Kaakha Cameraman character.

The tale in a nutshell is that Karthik (Simbu) and Jessie (Trisha) are living in the same house. While Simbu falling in love is predictable, the twists after that are not the usual fare for the Tamizh Audience. Jessie seems to be modeled on the modern day young woman, who does not know what she wants and the highlight of the movie is that Gautam has shown her wavering mind without making her character seem slightly lunatic, the case with movies like Aanadha Thaandavam. The movie is about whether Karthik and Jessie make the relationship work and make their families happy as well.

Simbu has morphed himself from the his previous unpopular version to a subtle, cool and good looking hero. His reactions and dialog delivery, while reminiscent of Surya in Vaaranam Aayiram - which I think originates from Gautam Menon - are cool and bring that smile on your face. Trisha looks like a freshly minted coin and passes muster in a complex character, based on the scope for heroines in today's movies. I seriously hope that Simbu sticks to this uber cool version and Trisha maintains her radiance and the slight streak of acting talent she has shown in this movie.

The movie has a very strong technical performance from its crew. The first and foremost person who makes you sit up and take notice is Rahman - He has delivered a killer soundtrack with almost every song in the album a noteworthy one. He backs that up with terrific BGM work. I think after Mani, Gautam has been able to get Rahman back to his standards of Alaipayuthey and Kannathil Muthamittal. The psychedelic rock based Aaromale was just a precursor to the influence of rock music in VTV. While Rahman had served classic soft Jazz in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa, here in VTV, Rahman has gone into the Pink Floyd - AC/DC mode with some great rock based BGMs in the movie. All pretenders to the throne in Tamizh Film Music move over, the Emperor who was on extended vacation abroad and in Hindi hinterlands, has come back to reclaim his throne with a killer soundtrack giving hitherto unexplored genre in Tamizh Music and depending on the scene, soul stirring, heart warming, rousing and peppy BGM/rerecording.

The next guy to thank would be the camera man, Manoj, who has made sure that the visuals are pleasing, soft, and of course has made the lead pair look cool and romantic. There are a few unusual shot compositions and camera angles which reinforces he is here to stay, especially with what we had already seen in Eeram. It has been a good sign that Tamizh Cinema is unearthing good DoP in the last decade or so with Ravi K Chandran, Santosh Sivan, Rajeev Menon, Nirav Shah, Mani Kantan and a few others, trying to add to the illustrious bracket comprising of Balu Mahendra and P.C. Sreeram.

The final and the force behind the movie is Gautam himself. My respect for this man grows with every movie. After Mani Ratnam (on whom, admittedly, he has modeled himself), here is a Tamizh director whose movies give respect to the viewer. His dialogs at various points in the movie is very apt. While I have always been a proponent of the director not taking on too many hats is a movie, I think Gautam is a person who does well writing dialogs for his stories as he infuses the necessary feel in to the dialogs. While pondering on this it is curious to note that people complain about English dialogs and over urbane feel in his movies - I feel while we have been led to believe that 'realism' is 4-5 bush-bearded, 'its-been-10-days-since-i-took-a-bath' guys, sickles and lungi and beedi, I guess Gautam's movies are representative of another side of reality - the urban middle-class/upper middle class.

On an ending note, I guess there are two people who reiterate what they can do - ARR and Gautam and a few others who show you that they too are relevant in the current day scenario - Simbu and Trisha, the people in question. I just hope they continue their form from VTV onwards into their future movies as well.

Bottomline: Double Thumbs-Up!!!

Politics in Tamizh Cinema

Written for Claps and Boos.

Since the time that Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi and Bharat Ratna M.G. Ramachandran used their movies to propagate their ideals to the masses, Tamil films have always had a intertwined relationship with the politics in Tamil Nadu.

While there has been no dearth of actors in politics and politicians in movies in Tamizh Nadu, there have been very few movies dealing with Politics in Tamizh Movies. Here is a look at few of them (not exhaustive or based on any merit - just a few of the recent ones):

1. Iruvar - This is, in my opinion, one of the best bio-pics made in Tamizh Cinema. Mani Ratnam does an amazing job in picking two characters best known in Tamizh Arasiyal (politics) - that of MGR and Karunanidhi and has based his movie on their lives. (To be politically correct, lets just say they were based). The best thing that Mani Ratnam did was to avoid showing one of them as the villain or a negative character. Anandan's intentions behind politics (To eradicate poverty) and Tamizhselvan's Dravidian philosophy are shown countermanding from the first scene in which Anandan and TamizhSelvan meet. The weakness and insecurity that both these giants of TN Politics go through in the movie are brilliantly portrayed by Mohan Lal who plays Anandhan and Prakash Raj who plays Tamizhselvan. The scene where Anandan comes out on the terrace of Tamizhchelvan's house and sees the crowd is a perfect scene of movie making basics, and of course A.R. Rahman's awe-inspiring BGM. For many Tamizh Cinema fans who complain that Rahman does not do justice to BGMs, please see his works with Mani and you shall know the man's genius. The others in the cast, too, perform amply within the scope - with the pick of them being Gauthami and Rajesh.
2. Ayitha Ezhuthu - A populist story, Mani Ratnam deals with college politics and how rowdyism has come to play a ever present role in politics. This movie literally revealed two actors to Tamizh Cinema, who have gone places after this movie. First is the best performer in this movie, R. Madhavan, who playing Inbasekar, completely overwhelms you. He is not playing a likeable character - and being recognized as Alaipaayudhey Madhavan, it must have been difficult for him to convince the audience as a out and out moral-less and unscrupulous character. The real victory for Mani and of course, Madhavan is that by the end of the movie, you really hated Inbasekar, which was an accomplishment of sorts, for the public image of Madhavan at that point of time was that of a chocolate boy. The second winner in this movie was Surya - who played a populist, slightly-left student politician, Michael Vasanth. Surya, who had matured through Nandha, grown through Kaakha Kaakha, arrived through Ayitha Ezhuthu. It is interesting to note that R. Madhavan has scaled new heights in Indian cinema with varied and versatile roles in Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots, while Surya is now a frontline actor who, has carefully balanced mindless masala movies like Aaru and noteworthy, versatile movies like Vaaranam Aayiram. Inspired from Amerros Perros, Mani Ratnam crafted a screenplay wherein a shooting incident is the central spot of meeting for the the three characters in the movie. This movie though, was not one amongst Mani's best efforts and the third track involving Siddarth was not as well developed as one expects in a Mani movie. The other revelation in this movie was Bharathi Raja, who plays the corrupt minister, Selvanayagam who brings such realism to his character that it sometimes hurts! This was the first album where Rahman went all out with an international feel - Dol Dol, Hey Goodbye Nanba and Yakkai Thiri being new sounds for the Tamizh ears. And incidentally, Yakkai Thiri was one of those few songs in Tamizh music that does not have any verbs in it. (Trivia time?!)
3. Makkal-aatchchi - R.K. Selvamani's masterpiece tells about a the tale of Mamootty, who gets involved in politics purely by chance and rises to the position of a Chief Minister of a state. This movie put in solid scenes what people were till then assuming about the rich and powerful in politics then - that they had little to no ethics, no morals and would go to any lengths for money and power. The movie starts off well and the first half is as good as any other movie in Tamizh Cinema. The second half has lots of twists (some of them unneeded) and at the end of the movie you do not know whether you can believe what our leaders say in the media. Mamootty as expected, takes the honors in the acting department while the movie also boasts of some sharp editing work. The music, as can be expected of non-Ilayaraja or non-Rahman movies of those times is hardly note-worthy.
4. Mudhalvan - Shankar's take on current affairs and politics, this movie creates a fantasy genre in political movies. Originally supposed to have been scripted for none other than the Superstar Rajni Kanth, this movie, surprisingly has Arjun Sarja in the lead and ends up being one of Arjun's best works - apart from Gentleman and Ayudha Poojai. The movie has a very identifiable cause - that politicians are more concerned about their vote-bank and so resort to caste politics and of course Shankar's pet theme - Corruption. The screenplay is one of the best in TC - there is almost no sag in the story till the end. And the lines by Sujatha were brilliant, especially the interview scene between Pughazendhi (Arjun) and Aranganathan (Raghuvaran). The only complaint with this movie was the romantic angle, played by Manisha Koirala who pretty much comes only for duets. Coming to duets, this movie again has A.R. Rahman at the helm and he churns out delightful numbers and some terrific BGMs too - especially for the scenes when Arjun is the CM for a day.
5. Bharath Bandh - This was a movie I had seen when I was really young and I suspect is a Telugu dubbed movie. This movie again, is based on Political intrigue and as suggested by its title is based around a bandh organized by some politicians for their personal gains. This movie, though, not great in terms of acting or cast (the lone saviour being the national award winning actress, Archana), shows you a sample of how politicians make self centered and short sighted decisions, purely based on their and their kin's well being with little or no regard for the public who voted them to power. The movie also features some gruesome killings and violence.

The interesting thing has been that though the perceived ills of politics - namely, caste/religion based politics, pseudo-secularism, corruption, coercion and rowdyism have been graphically represented in movies like the ones listed above and many others, it is pitiable that nothing has changed. It is really disappointing to see even well educated people getting involved in caste wars and tax evasion issues, even as recently as yesterday!!

Top Songs of 2008

The New Year has been tough on my free time, or what was left of it. This post is ideally what I'd have done in the last week of December. But my take is better late than never. My musical's interests diversified this year, thanks to a good friend of mine, because of whom Hindi songs came on to my play list. Also, my experiments with the Guitar (not so successful, though) also made to dust up my rock music collection. But since this is a chronology based list, I'm limiting it to Indian releases.

1. Adiye Kolludhey - Vaaranam Aayiram -  Sung by: Krish and Shruti Haassan
The lyrics, the tempo and the (inspired from AC/DC?) guitar riff makes this song an ideal one to play when you are doing your daily run.The sore point of this song, is of course Shruti Haasan whose voice is definitely not for tamizh duets. Krish's digitally altered voice also sounds more feminine, but overall this song is a terrific mood booster, at least for me. (And the reason I rank it at 1 is because, at heart, I'm a Tamizh Veriyan)

adiyae_kolluthae.mp3 -


2. Kabhi Kabhi Aditi - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - Rashid Ali
The lead guitar is one of the most catchy ones that I've listened to. The song is awesomely cute (now, that makes me sound gay, which I'm not FYI) and deservedly was a monster hit across all my friends circle.

3. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - Jaane Tu... - Sung By: A.R. Rahman
An awesome jazz inspired song. I wish I could sound so youthful when I'm in my 40's. Rahman's soft vocals adds to the soft jazz effect - the overall effect is that the song flows all around you, much like a stream (while Adiye Kolludhey is like a White Water rafting experience)

4. Nenjukkul Peidhidum - Vaaranam Ayiram - Sung by; Hariharan
This guy's voice with all its majesty has a quality to it that I've not seen replicated by any other playback singer (I said the quality - SPB's voice has 'another' quality - I can't find the exact lexical equivalent of what I think, but I hope you get the overall gist). Again, the guitar (of course its digitally synchronized guitar) is quite good too.

5. Kangal Irandal - Subramaniapuram - Sung by: Belly Raj, Deepa Mariam
The Y connection to this song notwithstanding, this rendition of reethigowlai is quite good - even if not in the same league as Azhagaana Rakshasiye or Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiran. But I have tried listening to this song in different versions (the MP3's quality) where I think James Vasanthan's inexperience shows as the bass and treble settings are awry.

6. Aazhiyile - Dhaam Dhoom - Sung By: Haricharan
A very good semi-classical rendition. Would have been a massive hit if not for HJ's inefficacy with the accompanying instruments.

7. In Lamhon, Manamohana and Khwaja - Jodha Akbar - Composer: A. R. Rahman
A.R. Rahman proved that his music is not all glitz and glamor with a classical album like this.

8. Taxi Taxi - Sakkaraikatti - Composer: A.R. Rahman
Super techno beats and synthesized music at its best.

9. O Saaya - Slumdog Millionaire - Composer: A.R. Rahman
If music can be exhilarating, then this definitely gets itself classified as that.

10.  Guzarish and Kaise Mujhe from Ghajini - A.R. Rahman
Superb songs both of them and the lyrics of Kaise Mujhe makes it enter this list. On the whole, a very good year for ARR - The Mozart from Madras.

Miscellaneous - Worthy of a mention
      a. Kathaazha Kannale from Anjaadhey - quite catchy tune and beat - Decent Kuththu paatu - against the  
          run-of-the-mill kinds like Dandarna and all that crap.
      b. Dosth bada Dosth-u from Saroja - Quite hummable number
      c. Meherban, Gulfisha and gumsum in Ada - the 'worst' album from ARR this year. Rahman's form in
          2008 = His form in 1999-2000 = Sachin Tendulkar's 1998 purple patch.

Aascar Awards

Got this from the Tamizh Cinema Community:

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AASCAR AWARDS COMING SOON

In a quick and stunningly pro-active response to Kamal Hassan's comments about the Oscars, the tamil film industry has instituted a new award that will honour accomplishments in areas that are important to local sensibilities and context.


The awards will be known as the AASKAR (Academy that Agrees Stupidly to Kamal's Arbid Requests) awards, and will be handed out at a glittering ceremony at German Hall next March.


Renowned actor Prakash Raj proudly displays the Aaskar that he is going to win for 'Best Performance as a Bad Guy Who Talks Like a Good Guy'.


Speaking on behalf of the newly formed academy, film fanatic Tony Chacko said “We will honour all those things about Tamil cinema that snobbish institutions like the Oscar Awards continue to ignore. For instance, we will have an award for 'Best Class Film', and 'Best Mass Film'.”, he said, to thunderous applause from Perarasu. Apparently, the Aaskars will also honour films with 'Best Youth Subject', 'Best Pathos', and 'Best Sincere Lou'.


There will also be a range of unique awards for actors, in categories such as 'Best Performance as a Hero's Friend', 'Best Sister Role', and 'Best Performance by Charlie as a College Student'(which, of course, will go to Charlie every year). Awards have also been announced for outstanding performances in categories like 'Rich Girls', 'Marwari Aunties', and 'Panchayat Heads'.


“This is great news!”, gushed an ecstasic Priya Krishnan, known all over the world for her love for cinema. “Now we can all play chess!”, she said, strangely.


“I hope this is not some sort of a joke or spoof. ”, said Wildlife Photographer S.U.Saravanakumar, breaking the fourth wall with consummate ease.


Apparently, writers and technicians will also be given their due. Among the awards for their contributions are 'Best Griffness in a Screenplay', 'Best Punch Dialogue', 'Best Needless Special Effects' and 'Best Interval Bang'. There is also rumoured to be a special award for 'Best Performance by Vijayakumar as Sarath Kumar'.

The award itself is a statuette that depicts Kamal Hassan screaming with rage (at the Oscars, probably). “It's a truly grand trophy”, said well-known architect Chiraag Kapoor, cheek firmly in tongue (er . . tongue firmly in cheek . . er . . both are same). The trophy has been designed by someone named Thyagu.



Kamal Haasan, rejecting preliminary designs for the Aaskar Award Statuette, expresses his displeasure to the designer (not in picture).


In order to avoid the embarrassing situation of Grand (Kamal Hassan) not winning any award, the organisers have decided to give him a 'Lifetime Achievement' award for his entire lifetime. “His entire lifetime is an achievement!”, said R.S.Prasanna, a lifetime fan of Grand's lifetime.


In fact, the academy is not only celebrating Tamil Cinema, but will have certain awards for excellence in other language films as well. 'Best Pointless Rahul Bose Film', 'Best Original Bollywood Song that Eerily Resembles A European Hit', and 'Least Hopeless Kannada Film', are some of the categories that will cater to the rest of the country.


The announcement has sent producer Oscar Aaskar Ravichandran into fits of desperation, as he now has to change his name once more. According to sources, he has shortlised 'Aughscar', 'Wahskhar', and 'Gavaskar' as possibilities.

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Update: The source seems to be here: http://www.bosey.co.in/

Tamil Cinema Round Up

Have been the moderator of the Orkut Tamil Cinema Community for a while now and not a day passes over with out a Rajni-Kamal fight or Ajit-Vijay fight or worst of all, Simbu-Danush fights. Apart from these you have fights for and against Mani Ratnam, ARR, Ilayaraja, Gautam V. Menon, Surya, Vikram, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Harris Jayraj. Snippets of the sensible stuff that can be taken out from the innumerable senseless posts:

1. Rajni Kanth

Was a great actor. Now firmly entrenched in the hero mode, the script of a rajni movie is this: First half Rajni does comedy and more often than not, right about at interval, Rajni is cheated or suffers ill-luck that takes him to the brink of life. Second half has Rajni coming back hard at rivals and doing his swish swish finger snapping and the panj dialog... While this is mostly true, its sad that Rajni Kanth has forever turned his back on good cinema.

2. Kamal Haasan

Once upon a time Kamal Haasan was someone who believed that good acting and storyline/script can make a movie successful. Nowadays, more often than not, he has resorted to panj dialaaks (VV, Dasa) and has relied heavily on make-up for gimmickery - case in point - Anbe Sivam - where the storyline was good, but Kamal to please his fans did a long and over-strecthed flash-back where we see all hero traits - Kiran falling for the macho, umbrella brandishing Kamal etc. Will we get another Mahanadhi or Nayagan from him?

3. Ajit

From 2002-2007 not even one of his movies could be classified as even a one-time watch. From the handsome and smart young man looks of Amarkalam, Kandukondein (2), Mugavari, Ajit has aged too fast for his own good, in terms of looks. Billa was a throwback to a timeperiod when Ajit films were good and entertaining and hopefully, with a Gautam Menon movie on the anvil, things are seemingly looking up. But please, we don't want to see his Tamil Nadu police style thoppai, anymore!

4. Vijay

Post Ghilli, Vijay and his directors are on a competition - who can rehash Gilli-formula better than others. There are all kinds of sentiments - Father, Mother, Sister, 'lauv'-er, wife, kids, concubine, neighbor's dog and what not? And if the news articles are anything to go by, his next movie after Villu (forget that Villu's stills look exactly like Pokkiri, which itself was a frame-by-frame, socks to socks ctrl-c, ctrl-v of the telugu Pokkiri) is with Perarasu. God Save Him!

5. Danush

Danush is following his father-in-law in terms of predictability of scripts. First Half - Danush is irresponsible, drinks, father scolds, Danush once again drinks, smokes, sees 'anda' madri padam (if Kasthuri Raja is involved in any capacity in the movie, then we are also shown the 'anda' madri padam too) and then sees some good looking girl (Shriya, Nayanthara, Trisha etc) and then decides that she is the girl for him :O. Second half: Danush becomes oppicer/good student and becomes successful, albeit not in one song (he needs to become a bigger star to follow Rajni in that) and the most unbelievable thing happens - the female lead falls for Danush. I know love is blind and all that crap - but Danush? Shriya?? Kali Kaalam muththi pochu!

6. Simbu

Imagines himself to be the next Superstar while the only thing I can see his as is the Next-TR and no, that is not a compliment (seemingly, TR and his son think that the number of views that TR's videos have on youtube is a direct reflection of TR's fan base - Ninaippu daan Pozhaippai kedukiradhu!). With no iota of embarrasment our Little Superstar kicks a bus and it goes back by 10 feet. And then he targets a panj dialaak at Danush, Aishwarya, Kamal, Rajni and even on the audience! Hope he migrates to music videos or Lollu Sabha for good.

7. Mani Ratnam

My favorite director, currently stuck in a 'trisanku' sorgam. He feels Hindi Films are commercially more viable - but indi makkal are used to seeing Rakhi Sawant prancing with a costume which follows the logic, 'Seen is an Ocean, Unseen is a drop'. Hopefully his better sense should prevail in the near future.

8. ARR

A person who brooks no comparison, let alone with Ilayaraja. He is like Federer - he is in a different playing field/zone. This guy has been a chameleon and the variety of his music has not been matched by any other MD in India. While many senior citizens vouch for Ilayaraja's melodies, there is no particular strain of music in which Rahman specializes. He is the complete package. But currently, his success rate has come down with atrocious albums like Azhugiya.. sorry, Azhagiya Tamizh Magan and Varalaaru. Looking forward to his combo with Gautam Menon in Chennaiyil Oru Mazhai Kaalam.

9. Ilayaraja

Past 'sell-by' date.

10. Gautam Menon

Has his one foot planted firmly on the vacant spot left by Mani Ratnam in Tamizh Cinema. Specializes in "cute" 'lauv' scenes, clipped english dialogs, extracting good music from the MDs. Minnale and Kakka Kakka remain favorites. But wasted an opportunity to utilize Kamal Haasan and instead came out with a horribly bloated Kamal in a horrible movie called VV.

11. Surya

Latest kid on the block. Six pack et al has made him the fitness model in Tamizh Cinema. Occasionally gives puke-able films like Vel, Aaru, Pujyam etc. Expecting Vaaranam Aayiram.

12. Vikram

Terribly over-rated. Pithamagan being the only movie where he acted well. Anniyan was crappo-shito! Has the unique ability to either look like a complete beaku or all serious in romance scenes and duets. Kandasaamy, seemingly, is looking like those unintentional comedy movies which TR and Captain regularly come up with.


13. Yuvan Shankar Raja

Mukkal and munagal characterise his singing. Decent Music Director and has a good sense of BGMs amongst the current crop of MDs.

14. Harris Jayaraj

Anda copy aagasa copy - but somehow is the most saleable MD in market. Makes a good combo with Gautam Menon. Currently, post PKMC and Unnale Unnale, all his songs sound alike.


(to be continued with others)

Dasavatharam - Views

Its sad to see Kamal Haasan being reduced to this by the audience of Tamizh Cinema. The 10 roles are a gimmick and nothing more. In the roles of Shingen, Fletcher and the old woman, the make up is so heavy that any acting, whatsoever, is ruled out. And Flectcher, aptly (as he cannot 'act') wears shades and keeps running as if there is no tomorrow. Asin repeating "Perumalae" is a definite contender for the most irritating character in tamizh cinema award. The last 10 minutes - the Ulaganaayagane song, where they show Kamal 'undergoing' extensive make-up sessions seems to be an anti-thesis to what Kamal keeps saying on tv - that doing movies is not his work, but holiday. The screenplay is good till the interval and after that it is much like KrishnaVeni - senile and pointless. Music - is puke-able. And recently I heard that the only decent song, Kallai Mattum Kandaal song is also a rip-off!!! Its pathetic that Rajni and Kamal, the two pillars which has made Tamizh cinema survive in terms of money and quality, have given us cardboardish movies in Sivaji and Dasavadharam. I hope both of them decide to hang up their boots. Kamal Haasan's looks (as Govind) easily matches his worst so far - Vasool Raja and Vettaiaadu Vilayadu! After seeing people like Surya having six pack abs, its no longer to pleasure to see Kamal and Ajit having a paunch and Vijay looking like an AIDS stricken patient.

Cast:

Its Kamal Haasan in all the important roles. Out of these, the pick is Balaram Naidu whose wit and one liners keep you interested in the movie. The character of Rangarajan Nambi is good as well. Asin is downright irritating. If I were Govind in the movie, I'd be trying to be as far away from Asin, as possible - but as they say Vidhi Valiyadhu and Govind ends up being in love with Asin.

Tech Crew:
KSR - 25/100
Cameraman (Ravi Varman, I guess) - 80/100
Music - 0/100
BGM - 30/100
Make up - Biggest letdown - no marks!

History/facts Distorted:
Kamal Haasan (or the director KSR) is confused between Shavities and Smaarthas. People who are called Iyers of today (except the Ashtasastram sub-sect) are Smaarthas and have neither ill-will towards Maha Vishnu nor particular attachment to Parameswaran. In fact, in the Sandyavandhana ritual, we do say, Asavadityo Brahma / Brahmaivaasmi// meaning, Light/Sun is the only God and I myself am a manifestion of Sun. I make an educated guess that Vadakalai Iyengars, who I think have their scriptures in Sanskrit, follow Yajur Upakarma which means they might have the same Aikyanusandhaanam. I have been to Chidambaram, but failed to notice if the Perumaal there is vadakalai or then-kalai. But going by logic, with the Nataraja being non-lingam form, which is a classical Chozha/Aadheenam/pre- 'rise of thenkalai' trait, I'm tempted to believe that the perumal has to be vadakalai too - which makes the whole 12th century epsiode shaky and iffy as Kamal Haasan says, "Adiyen Ramanuja Daasan" - meaning he is a then-kalai Iyengar. I'm not a pro on the history of Smaarthas and Iyengars, but someone who is more knowledgable, please enlighten me on this. And in fact, when I say Smaarthas are not anti-Vishnu, there can be no greater proof than Maha Periyava Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi of Kanchi Sankara Math (I'm not calling on jayendra Saraswathi because of various reasons - the prime being, I myself am not convinced that the Math is as sacred it was when Maha Periyava was the Mata-athipathi) who signs (they cannot ink their name as they have renounced the world ) as "Naarayana-Smriti" (meaning, a Tool of Sri Naarayana). Well, people can ask me why the heck I dissect a masala movie thus far - its just to show how the concept of Brahmism has been raped and interpreted in totally erroneous ways, thanks to the Dravida Movement.


P.S: I'm trying to come up with a post as to the origin of the Vedas, which I came to know by attending some arbit discourse in April 2007 in Chennai (when I had actually gone there for Arusuvai Arasu's Canteen's Badam Alwa and some vadais. :D). Any help with regard to that is welcome!

Anjaadhey - First good movie of 2008

Saw Anjaadhey today - albeit online streaming video.

Well, I thought of Kakha Kakha and Kurudhi Punal as defining movies for the cop genre. But I think Anjaadhey, minus a performer like Surya, story-wise has definitely scored over Kakha Kakha. Instead of going in for a usual review let me list the features which appealed (and which didn't) to me.

Good Aspects:

1. No glamorization of villain or hero - in fact, IMO Ajmal was given almost as much importance and scope as Narain, the protagonist.

2. No gross visuals (Gautam Menon, are you listening?) and no justification for Prasanna's obsession - it is shown that Prasanna is, naturally, a person with a psychological disorder.

3. The screenplay was taut and gripping. No unwanted Amma, Thangachi sentiment scenes which tend to put me off. On the same vein, thank god, Narain and Uttara were not shown to be doing "lauvs" in usual tamizh cinema paani.

4. Stunts, whatever little there was were natural and no rope oriented flyings... And the fights were shown to be short and swift.. Much like what Vishnu varadan told in his Tv interviews before the release of Billa. That lent more credence to the encouters/fights.

5. Awesome characteriastions - Ponvannan was very good. Livingston and MS Bhaskar were correctly underplayed. Pandiarajan was very efficient too. And I don't know whether it was for that reason - but Narain identifying the voice of Pandiarajan was believable. Pandiarajan's voice is not ur usual voice. Touche, Myskin.

6. BGM was not a cacophony - I found the BGM in Kakha Kakha whenever Jeevan came, to be outright "the rejected" . The Music director has lost the plot in the songs (will talk about it later) but has scored in the BGM dept.

7. I liked the way Mysskin had avoided to show anybody as good or bad. Everybody was portrayed as normal human beings, having shades of grey - nothing more or nothing less. There is often a tendency to portray people as caricatures (either too good or too bad).


8. The way Ponvannan investigates the case is superb. It seems much more closer to reality than stuff like "Raghavan Instinct" kinds. For this alone, Mysskin deserves praise, if not for the other reasons.


9. This movie, once again reiterates that you don't need 'kuthu' paatu and a comedy track to make the audience like the movie. And thankfully, there are no punch dialogs like "Nee adicha piece, Naan adicha maasu", "Naan onnu ninaichenna, Ennalaye Kaaya vaikka mudiyadhu" kinds. I still maintain that apart from Rajni Kanth, anybody else mouthing punch dialogs looks funny.


10. Amongst cop movies in tamizh cinema, I liked KurudhipPunal and Kakha Kakha. But after Anjadhey, I would say, in order of merit, it is KurudhupPunal, Anjaadhey and Kakha Kakha.



Aspects which I didn't like.

1. Except for the Kathaala song, others were downright horrible. Mysskin, who goes on record saying he doesn't like having songs could have avoided those songs - the movie would also been shorter, adding to the already good screenplay.

2. Some scenes were too dark for my liking. But that could also be because I saw it on my comp and not on the big screen.

3. I felt Narain was very limited in his acting skills. I think Mysskin should try to convince bigger stars (I Know he will say that the big stars are afraid to experiment....). But this movie is not experimental. The protagonist wins at the end, which is what those big stars want and so, I think Mysskin should be more convincing when narrating scripts to those stars.

Overall, the first good film of 2008.

I would give it 4 Starts out of a possible 5.

Writer Sujatha Dead

The man behind the hard-hitting dialogs in Indian and Mudhalvan, is no more. En Iniya Iyandhira, Katradhum Petradhum and the Electronic Voting Machine, are his legacy too.

To convey your condolences to his family, use this link.


LKS

Bheemaa - is netraya uppumaa

Caught up with Bheema yesterday. The theatre board had a "There will be blood" sign outside the one playing Bheema - it proved to be true on 2 counts:
1. First to last, every character you see, dies
2. Vadivel lingo - Blood? Same Blood!!!

Cast:

Vikram steals the show. He has proved enough and doesn't need to prove his ease at portraying strongman roles. But sadly, Vikram looks too old in song sequences (make-up man, are you listening?). But his broad shoulders and bulging biceps makes his powerful punches a tad believable.

Prakash Raj - as soon as I saw him in a don role, I thought he would reprise his "chellam!!" role from Ghilli once more. I, for one, was irritated with PR's repeat of those lines in movie after movie. But he has shed that baggage and has performed well. To be honest, if Dhalapathy was ever remade, PR SHOULD fill in the role of Mammooty.

Trisha - is like a pickle. Comes and gyrates in songs and goes away and only substantial scene is the one where she gets killed.

Others: Raguhvaran = wasted.
Thalaivaasal Vijay = a second lease of life?
Aashish Vidyarthi = Eeks - enough of his aeeeei and daaaaais.


Direction and screenplay and stunts:

Lingusaamy - you have proved that Run was a flash in the pan. You messed up in Ji and again here. Lingusaamy thinks he is making cute romantic scenes (like Mani Ratnam), but ends up irritating us. In this age, he asks us to believe that a college going girl falls in love with a thug, for apparently no other reason than that he fell and rolled on her one night.... I don't expect logic in tamizh movies, especially when a person like Dharani says his only motive is to entertain. People like Lingusaamy call his movie technically slick and all that crap and he gives us such a half baked product... And action scenes - every scene you see vikram suspended by ropes (atleast they could have made some effort to hide the rope tugs on vikrams shirt) and in one scene when vikram jumps off from a building and cycles his way down, you are reminded of Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan and its Hanuman! Please don't cheat tamizh audience saying this is slick. And supposedly, you said Billa was made to run.

Though Vishnuvaradhan screwed up bigtime by having the same story, he atleast compensated for it in other aspects. Good stunt sequences and scenes where the rope tugs were almost hard to find.


Music and BGM:

Only 2 songs were good - Mudhal Mazhai and Ragasiya - but they screwed them up with bad/redundant picturisation. Vikram really looks funny when he tries to be the cute romantic, especially in the ragasiya song. Sirupaarvayale looks like a spoof version of Athiradee kaaran.

BGM - the Oru Mugamo bit and the related BGM is good, though the beat is similar to the Jana Gana Mana bit and the related BGM in Aayitha Ezhuthu. The other BGMs are simply laughable, especially one which comes for actions scenes of vikram, the BGM, by the sound of it, was more like an epic movie BGM....


Producer:

The crowd here was countable - 20 people in a theatre which could seat 150 people and this was the second show in the South Florida region, which houses the max Tamizh people in the florida state.

The first mistake AMR did was to make movies with his son(s) as hero and director. The second was making this movie over this protracted a period.


Verdict: If you are really bored, can watch this once - I saw this movie as there was no football yesterday.

Stars: 1.5/5

Billa - Review - Packaging does matter

Finally caught up with the new Billa last week.

My 2 cents:
1. Cast

a. Ajit

Acting in a role of Rajni Kanth really requires some guts and to give Ajit his due, he hasn't tried to imitate Rajni either in mannerisms or dialogs or anything. Ajit pulls off the don role with ease, as predominantly requires him to maintain a detached attached look and in the role of Velu has tried some comedy which are mostly of the slapstick kinds - he is not majorly successful in this and it is majorly because of bad dialogs. The action scenes show Ajit in full flow and the car chase scene - I think it is one of the more realistic car chases I have seen in tamizh cinema - no dupes and the director has really used Ajit's racing background very well. Along with Nirav Shah, Ajit remains a pillar for this movie clicking with the audience. But looks-wise, Ajit needs to shed weight - he looked trim and fit in Kireedom and has to go back to that mode. His paunch really looks bad in the second half - I have seen his interview in Sify regarding his weight, but my take on actors is that they have to keep their looks intact as their livelihood depends on their looks and their talent.

b. Prabu
Has tried a difference character role - and has succeeded mostly. But in certain places, shows wrong face reactions - which leaves the audience confused. His role is developed better than the one for Balaji in the original

c. Nayantara
Looks like a dream and has really taken risks and performed stunts pretty well. Is a huge huge improvement on the obese Sripriya in the original.


d. Namitha
Totally unwanted and has been included only for some B- or C- Class audience. Pathetic.


Direction - Screenplay - Dialogs

Vishnu Varadan has done the same mistake that Shankar did in Sivaji. While concentrating on making the film a visual masterpiece, he has lost some points on the screenplay and dialogs section. The english bits of dialogs are good, much better than the bits used by Gautam Menon in his films. But VV has to be given due credit for completely reworking the film and for me, who has watched the old Billa atleast 10 times, I wasn't able to see any resemblance to the old film's scenes. But the only bad thing was VV has failed to create more twists and turns and so, the film is pretty predictable, especially in the 2nd half.

DoP

Nirav Shah, take a bow - you, along with Ajit make this a super duper viewing experience. The action scenes rock and I won't be surprised if he gets a National Award soon.

Music

YSR has scored well with My Name is Billa and Vethalaya Potendi and Seval Kodi and has majorly screwed up with the other 2 songs. The BGM, though more than makes up for the songs with a pulsating bit. To listen to it, see the esnips widget below

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Editing

Sreekar Prasad has made sure, the film is crisp and there are no jarring cuts and continuity shifts.

Costumes

Anu Varadan - You've really made everybody look ravishing in this movie - and easily she walks away with the years best costume designer award for 2007.


On the whole, the movie is a definite one-time watch - just for Nirav Shah and Ajit - they have given their heart out for this movie. And defintely, this movie does give a new direction for commercial tamil cinema - with technical finesse apparent in every frame.


Verdict - 3.5/5

Evano Oruvan - A review

The initial stills evoked interest. They hinted at something different and daring. And Madhavan is one of my favs. And this review - boy, did it evoke interest? I got to see the movie on an online pirated streaming version - well, I'm pretty ashamed for that, but come on, this movie didn't release in this godforsaken city on the west coast of the east coast.

Onto the story - nothing new in that - One man rising against the widespread corruption/apathy towards virtues. Indian, Anniyan, Citizen, Mudalvan and a zillion other movies have had the same base story - what differentiates EO is the protagonist. You don't have exaggerated fight sequences where the "hero" dons 10 getups or flies 25 feet to deliver a kick to 3 men joined together using ninja or some such crap. You don't have unbelievable "akramam" happening. Mostly, everything - the cause (akramam) and the effect (Madhavan's reaction) are believable and not exaggerated. The story actually scores heavily in the manner it shows Madhavan becoming a violent man and his subsequent agony - especially the scene where Madhavan talks to God, you feel his anguish pretty well. The climax particularly would surely touch a chord with one and all, who love good cinema.

Acting

Madhavan has come up with a good performance, reminding us of Anbe Sivam, Ayidha Ezhuthu days. Sangeetha, though appearing on-screen for a few minutes, has proved Pithamagan was no flash-in-the-pan. Seeman, again, is doused with reality (edhartham) and doesn't have the usual affected (midukku) mannerisms/physical personality as do Tamizh Cinema cops. Others in the cast are effective and efficient - nothing more - nothing less. Only sore point is the Councillor who overdoes on both dialog front and acting front.

Direction:

Kamath has put in a good effort and has largely, delivered. The drug ring scotching was very cinematic, compared to the rest of the sequences. The opening sequence was top class and he has made the viewer understand the boredom/routine-ness of Madhavan's life. A very rare attempt, almost at par with Memento. It shows that Kamath has worked with the confidence of reworking/remaking his own successful script.

DoP:

Very good frame composition with excellent close up shots - the camera-work was devoid of unwanted shakes/effects whenever Madhavan goes into a frenzy which was welcome from the usual jig the camera does whenever the hero goes hyper in many films.

Music and BGM:

Compared to Dir, cast and DoP, BGM is not as effective - with silence dominating in many scenes. The song at the end credits is also not anything to write home about. On the other hand though, the silence works in most of the scenes in connecting to the thoughts of the actors on screen.

Editing:

Editing, majorly is good - a few scenes could have been cut/trimmed, especially in the second half.

Dialogs:

Madhavan has penned the dialogs and has acquitted himself well for a debudant - but at certain places, the intended punch doesn't come through - especially in the talk-to-the-god scene and the place where the old woman chastises Madhavan at the hospital.

Verdict:

The movie is one of those rare attempts at good and meaningful cinema, but could have better - mainly due to the deja vu from previous masala vigilante movies and partly because of toned down dialogues / underplayed scenes.

Stars - 4/5

Key:
0 - Horrible/Pathetic
1 - Bad
2 - Okay
3 - Good
4 - Excellent
5 - Amazing


Coming up: Reviews for Kalloori, Billa and Katradhu Tamizh.

Azhagiya Tamizh Magan = Azhugiya Kandraavi

First things first. For those of you who are "Vijay Rasigargal", please don't read further. Logic and Common sense aren't things for you, going by your star's latest venture.


1. For some one who says he makes movies for family audience, especially kids (with montage shots with kids in every movie), why the heck do you need Shakila in the movie? And do kids necessarily need to see a water drenched Namitha, wearing something which is for a girl half her size? "Dr." Vijay, please, for godsake, don't ever say you make clean films. Starting from you putting soap for Srividya, to making jokes about Shakila, you cater to C - grade audience. Period!

2. A guy who is advised by doctors not to travel from Mumbai to Chennai, can fight heavy duty, but can't run a short sprint?? WTF??? Does Vijay think people who see his movies are those with no IQ or intelligence? Gaping logic holes the size of Namitha are everywhere in the movie.

3. When will Dr. Vijays movie get out of the manja-pachcha colors of Ramarajan? Yellow shirt and Green trousers are okay, but Yellow colored staircase?? God Save Tamizh Makkal.


Okays - let me stop haranguing Vijay - onto the movie - or whatever you can call it.....

The story is liberally inspired majorly by previous double action movies, most notably Attagaasam. Attagaasam was by no means a good movie and when someone gets inspired from that, you know you are in for a pathetic movie and thats what you feel, at the end of the 2 and half hour nonsense called ATM.

Guru(Vijay) is a do-gooder on the lines of MGR in 1960s and shows you liberal doses of his sentiments - be it on kids, mother, father, next door dog... whatever. Abinaya (shriya) is the typical tamizh film heroine - zilch common sense, mouthing cho-chweet kinda inane dialogs. They meet and fall in love in keeping with the Tamizh Cinema Rules and Regulations. Only twist is that Guru happens to acquire ESP suddenly and after a couple of scary incidents, foresees himself killing Shriya. So he runs away from her and goes to Mumbai where he sees a replica of himself, Prasad (Vijay again, with the same hair style and shave panna blade illadha madri dhadi) and immediately realises that his ESP vision had this "bad" vijay killing Shriya. Fast Forward - Guru is hit by a lorry (we are thankful - he got what he deserved for his pig headedness) and Prasad goes to Chennai and Shriya, meets him and with no questions, takes him to her house. Prasad manages to fool everybody. Finally, Guru manages to get well and comes back to Chennai and in turn, is accused as an impostor. Things thankfully reach a crescendo and an inspired speech about "karpu" (Y-U-C-K) from Shriya (highly ironical, seeing her in the song sequences :P) Prasad turns a new leaf and all's well in the end. Somewhere in middle, you have a mini bit-song with Namitha and an included rape/sex scene.

Special Attractions:

1. Dr. Vijay's absolutely un-describable acting talent. Man, how did this guy even get so far with ZERO acting skills - the confrontation scenes between 2 vijays are highlights - for pathetic graphics and pathetic acting.

2. Its okay to try to become the next superstar - but dialogs like Naan thaan next BOSS, Paate podu (in Rajni's kannada accent) and the mottai boss mannerism affected character all reminds me of one character in Chinna thambi - "ennaku kalyanam! ennaku Kalyanam!!" kinds - I can imagine Vijay in same getup shouting "Naan daan next Rajni! Naan daan next Rajni!!!"

3. Thoroughly out-of-form ARR.


Trying to give stars to this movie is like trying to find a reason for Agarkar to be in the Indian team.

Verdict: ZERO Stars (ZERO acting + ZERO Direction)

Polladhavan Review

In continuum with my previous post, this movie really impressed me - in spite of having Dhanush in it and also the fact that I saw it in a crappy streamed format online.

The story is pretty similar to bicycle thief and deals about Dhanush's irresponsible life, his quest to get a Pulsar and the happenings thereon. Dhanush pretty much manages to be convincing as the wastrel guy - I think he has played this role once too often and even then, manages to make you take notice. His acting notwithstanding, there are certain aspects to his dialog delivery and facial expressions which Dhanush needs to avoid. His performance really stands out in the scene he revolts against his father. The comedy sequences work almost most of the times - except for some mokkais from Karunas. Dhanush has also made an effort to improve his physique and in the climax fight, his physique adds some credence to the fight (I generally believe fights shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 punches long). I really like Dhanush for trying to choose stories intelligently (thiruvilayadal arambam, Polladhavan kinds). Its definitely good that he has come out of the Sullan - Parattai engira azhagu kinda nonsensical scripts. Not everyone can fit all roles. So if Dhanush can make himself a niche hero, good for him.

The love track is a total spoiler and the movie could have been much tauter without it - and the heroine's only capability seems to be able to do some on-edge-of-vulgarity dance steps in the songs - zilch emoting and non-existent good looks - it seems to be a good decision by Gautam to drop her from Varanam Ayiram.

Amongst other performances, Daniel Balaji (this guy always comes as a drug addict on screen and plays it pretty convincingly too) and Murali (Dhanush's dad) are good. Bhanupriya comes in a role tailor made for Saranya (roles whose only selavu is 25 litres of glyrcerine). The other small characters like Santhanam, Dhanush's sister are easy and are not the usually over-the-top characters that we are used to. A bow to the director for sticking to believable characterizations.

What's this new trend of Tamizh movie villains talking tamizh in a contorted accent? His tamizh pronounciation itself warrants the horrible death he dies in the movie.

Songs from G.V. Prakash Kumar, who had superb outings in Kireedam and Veyyil has dissappointed and generally, the songs itself are speed-breakers in this movie - the most irritating being the item number - I seriously don't know why this item number was placed there - the song, dance and the "item" girl sucked big time.

On the whole, this movie is good enough to be seen once - and perhaps is Tamizh Cinema's answer to the Six Pack Khan.

Rating - 3/5

0 - Horrible/Pathetic
1 - Bad
2 - Okay
3 - Good
4 - Excellent
5 - Amazing


LKS

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Absolutely Hilarious.....

Click on the picture to read... its super duper hilarious. Vaazhgha Thalaivar!!

LKS

Diwali Movies Ratings

1. ATM - Pathetic screenplay - Namitha is a big turn off - no big story and very, very predictable.

2. Vel - Usual Hari stuff - replete with Sickles and adi-aals. Only saving feature is Surya.

3. Polladavan - TC's answer to six pack khan - Dhanush has chosen a script which suits him - much like Thiruvilayadal Arambam. Non-linear narration helps.

4. Kannamoochi Yenada - Very predictable and Prithviraj sooper dooper over-acting with Iyer baashai.

5. Machakaran - couldn't bear to see more than 20 mins - avoid in any form.

My pick of a trailer after Sivaji

இனிய தீபாவளி வாழ்த்துக்கள் !!

I really got a high after seeing the Sivaji trailer - especially the beats when names of technicians come in.. The next trailer of this year, which has enthused me is the one for Billa.





As many tyrants and dictators have done, the line which Ajit mouths here, is apt. Kudos to Vishnu Varadan (or whoever who wrote that bit of dialog). The film has that sleek look - much like the Don (2006) and the last bit of guitar left me wanting for more... Hopefully after duds like Vel, Kannamoochi Yenada, YSR comes up with a good score for this. Going by track record of the Vishnu-YSR movies, I think we can expect a decentish score. Importantly, they have 2 remixes of My Name is Billa and Vethalaya Potendi - Remixes are YSR's fort and I have a gut feeling that he might deliver in My Name is Billa, more than Vethalaya... what with hip hop ctrl-c ctrl-v's. And for once, an Ajit movie has decentish/good stills too. And man, has Nayanthara undergone some liposuction or something - she looks much more the part than Priyanka Chopra in Don, as seemingly Nayanthara is taller and she has the tough look too. Perhaps after some very average (or bad/worst) movies, Ajit may rise to the position he had in 1999-2001.....



For more stills, click here

Balaji has blogged on this too!

Azhagiya Tamizh Magan - Audio

Did A.R. Rahman do this album? After Parasuram, this is one album where ARR has had the rarest of rare falls. Even more surprising is that the Maduraiku Pogadhadi number sounds very very similar to Dhina Dhinam Deepavali song in Varalaaru. And the introductory number with totally over the top lyrics (it IS over the top, atleast for Dr. Vijay) has recycled beats of Balleleika and Vaji Vaji from Sivaji and some beats from Katril oru Varthai from Varalaaru, once more. And the remix version of the Pon Magal Vandhal is in the same level as those of Yuvan Shankar Raja's in Kurumbu, Vallavan and recently, the one in Polladhavan, composed by Yogi B. There are rumors doing the rounds that a certain Krishna Chetan (ARR's website says so too) having come up with the remix version - is very bad with the standard computer effects and some inane rap music. Agreed that Dr. Vijay rarely does anything original, but even then a remix with literally zilch reworking is bad! A popular online tamizh film hub, Mayyam.com had a senior member say this about the ATM album, which just about sums up my thoughts too!

"An embarassing slip for Rahman after SOK and atleast a couple of fresh numbers in Sivaji. A lot of techno garbage, repetitve voice processing and lots of deja vu. Remix- inexcusable,no matter who does it. Hopefully this is the last time Rahman does it. But thats what you get when you choose to do a Vijay film. PonmagaL vandhaaL is such a classic. The Marilyn Monroe song flat out sucks. It would befit a Harris Jayaraj to compose something like that. In fact the style of singing and the chessy thanglish words reminded of kannum kannum Nokia. The so-called melodies dont fare much better either. Atleast Udhaya had "udhaya udhaya uLarugiren". This is an album that sounds like as if the sound engineer at Rahman's studio put it together.
I was initially disappointed when I heard that Rahman was going to do a Vijay film which I thought was a poor choice for him at this stage, and hearing the album has only confirmed my apprehension. This is pretty underwhelming stuff which can be shelved along with Parasuram, Baba and other such albums."


And another member has this to say about the Maduraiku Pogadhedi
"ABCDEF, Sivaji was a mass album as well but adithadi had a lot of style to it. So did the style song and the main theme. So I dont buy this excuse. Looks like Rahman wasnt interested much or was busy with his overseas assignments and just phoned it in. He is capable of much better stuff than this. A kuthu song can be tastefully done too. It need not be mediocre. Even the Gummi adi song in SOK and the Ballelakka song in Sivaji had more pep and life than the so called mass numbers here. The pallavi of the intro song alone impressed me with its energy. But then the tune falters in the stanzas.Madhuraiku pogadhadi is Immaan/Dhina stuff."


I think Rahman has come out with an uninspired music album for an actor who gets inspired once too often! :P And Dr. Vijay, with his penchant for Gaana, Kuthu and other forms of music which are generally associated with B and C centers, needs to go in for his usual Mani Sharmas, Srikanth Devas rather than make ARR compose like this.

Minnale Quiz

For Minnale Maniacs like me....

1.Collegla, Maddy ku evlo arrears?


2. "You know what I'm capable of" - Who says this?


3. In the last college scene, which color jacket does Maddy wear?


4. Maddy in office in chennai - "We're now going to consider _____ and ______ setup menu.". Fill in the blanks.


5. What is Reema Sen's "out of focus" friend's name?


6. Madhavan bike dome mela irukra sticker number enna?


7. Vivek lorry joke - lorry number enna?


8. What is Reema sen's veetu phone number? From that, vivek tells the house is at _______ road.


9. After Iruvizhi Unadhu song, what soup do Abbas and Reema Sen have at the restaurant?


10. When Maddy send flowers to Reema Sen, who is the second delivery guy? (Very easy one)


11. "Bon Apetite" - when does this dialog come?

As usual mail answers to karthik[dot]sriram[at]yahoo[dot]com

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Cine Quiz - 6

This is another new idea I've come up with - its not novel - I have seen it in some quiz shows - but thanks to a friend of mine, HR, for giving me the inspiration by challenging me with a single guitar note to find a "Mike" Mohan song - which, me being a Tamizh Cinema PhD from the Rajni Kanth University, took almost a day to find. This set me on a thought train to make people guess songs from interludes/intro bits/etc to find the original song. I have made 10 bits from some popular songs. But my hunch says that any decent tamizh cinema fan must be able to find them all without much ado. From my regular readers, I expect Blogeswari and Deepa to guess all of them - mainly because they are two(!) years "younger" than me (I can hear some of you saying "Enna Kodumai Saravanan Karthik Sriram Idhu?") - Blog Vaazhkaiyil poi sollvadhellam sagajamappa! :P

Regular readers know where to reach me and for those who don't, mail me your answers to karthik[dot]sriram[at]yahoo[dot]com

Question 1:

Question1.mp3

Question 2:

Question2.mp3

Question 3:

Question3.mp3

Question 4:

question4.mp3

Question 5:

question5.mp3

Question 6:

question6.mp3

Question 7:

question7.mp3

Question 8:

question8.mp3

Question 9:

question9.mp3

Question 10:

question10.mp3

Technorati Tags: tamizh cinema, quiz, music, interlude, rahman, ilayaraja

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Memorable Songs in Tamizh Cinema - Song 1

Songs, whether they come from the Mozart from Madras ARR or the Maestro IR, make an impact on people only if they are backed up by superb picturisation - especially in these times where the TV channels rule the viewership charts. There have been some songs which have really helped a good song become super duper hits.

I want to pen down some of my favorite songs, which I would love to watch any day.


The songs are discussed in no particular order.


Pachai Nirame



A real ever'green' song if I can say so. Superb locations, amazing camera angles, extraordinary music (this maybe one amongst Hariharan's best 5) and simple yet effective choreography makes this one my favorite song. The fact that Alaipayuthey is one of my most favorite movies might have also played a part in making this song special. Also, the chemistry between Madhavan and Shalini really makes this song good. There are lots of songs which are those cloyingly sweet/saccharine kinds (where the hero and heroine act like two 'cho chweet' kinds which make me puke on the song - a very recent song, with super duper music from ARR, vocals from Shreya Ghoshal was an utter letdown in the video with totally no chemistry between the hero and his love interest - and they had pathetic locations too!) which put me off, but here the song reflects the situation in the movie - Madhavan tries to flirt with Shalini and gets a 'bulb', but as is the case with lovelorn guys, manages to see a positive that Shalini has smiled at him - the song starts here. It was a very good ploy to have the male only vocals as it makes it slightly believable (after all, its the usual dream song) - making us see the song as a manifestation of Madhavan's mood and happiness. The lyrics are very catchy too - with the standard of tamizh film lyrics going so low as to have water packet and the like in them, this song has much better lyrics - in fact, this is one song which I can sing in public without having to muzhungufy (mute out) some words in the middle.

The cinematography and choreography is really the biggest factors in making this song click - locations which are picture perfect, awesome natural lighting effects - Sriram, take a bow!! The way the colors have been integrated is also innovative - the milaga being dried, the yellow sheet in the rain - wow! And Farah Khan, shows her class by not having some cheap and vulgar actions/dance steps, manages to show the chemistry between the actors in a splendid manner.

Some Stills from the song:





Download Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/60581497/Alaipayuthey.Pachai.Nirame.avi

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